Tom Marquand was unseated by Al Hudaiba in the British Stallion Studs EBF Novice Stakes at Yarmouth on Thursday after the Godolphin two-year-old jinked sharply and threw him just inside the final furlong. The 10-11 favourite was in control of the race when the colt suddenly veered, leaving Byzantine, ridden by Billy Loughnane, to sweep through and win.
Alex Fussey, calling the race at Yarmouth, captured the shock of the moment by describing it as drama inside the furlong, while Sky Sports Racing reporter Jason Weaver called it “very, very strange.” The fall came 13 days after Al Hudaiba, trained by Charlie Appleby, had won on debut at Newmarket, and it brought a race that had looked straightforward into an instant talking point.
Marquand, who was back on his feet after the fall, said he feared for a trip to hospital and joked that he wondered whether there were double beds there because he might have joined Hollie. He said the horse had been stepping towards Billy, who was on his left, and that when he tried a regrab to get him rolling, Al Hudaiba stepped the other way sharply.
The stewards later found that no other horse or rider was involved. Their report said the colt had initially drifted left-handed before sharply ducking right-handed, which matched what unfolded in the closing strides and explained why the fall looked so sudden to those watching from the stands and on television.
There was no lasting interruption to Marquand’s afternoon. He completed a double for William Haggas two races later, before the racecourse doctor stood him down from his final ride. That detail mattered because it showed the rider was able to continue after the incident, even if the fall had looked awkward enough to raise immediate concern.
The episode also landed against the backdrop of concern for Hollie Doyle, Marquand’s wife, who is in hospital after breaking her left leg in a fall at Bath last Friday. She is awaiting further surgery after a complex fracture to the tibia and fibula and is likely to be out of action for much of the summer, making the couple’s week on the racecourse a bruising one by any measure.
For Al Hudaiba, the fall did little to change the fact that he had been the horse to beat until the final furlong. For Marquand, it was another reminder that even a race under control can turn in a stride, and that sometimes the most dangerous part of a novice stakes is the bit everyone assumes is already settled.
